Research

Transnational entrepreneurs are individuals that migrate from one country to another, simultaneously maintaining business linkages with their former country of origin, and currently adopted countries. The research aims at generating a better understanding of how transnational entrepreneurs pursue internationalization strategies. 

Keywords:  Transnational Entrepreneurs, International Entrepreneurs, Ethnic Entrepreneurs, Returnee Entrepreneurship

Researchers involved: Carin Holmquist, Karl Wennberg and Nedim Efendic


Entrepreneurship education

Entrepreneurship programs are now a reality at many of the world’s universities and institutes of higher learning. In this project we study the long-term effects of this education initiative, especially pertaining to the issues of self-selection, theory vs practice pedagogics and societal benefits.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship education

Researchers involved: Rasmus Rahm


Well-being and Entrepreneurial Activity

This research concerns the nexus of well-being and entrepreneurial activity. We investigate how and through which mechanisms individuals’ aspirations and well-being are related to entrepreneurial efforts and outcomes. A novel theoretical framework is developed to complement the opportunity based view of entrepreneruship. The framework is tested usingthe Swedish GEM study for the year of 2011. Drawn from the main survey, a cohort of nascent entrepreneurs will be followed every six months along a period of two years. 

Keyword: Well-being, Aspirations, Entrepreneurial Activity, Entrepreneurial Intentions

Researchers involved: Nadav Rotemberg-Shir

The Swedish panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics 

This major research effort covers all types of new firms drawn from a representative sample of nascent enterprises tracked from inception into the early years of a new firm. The absence of such a data set has been a major impediment to the development of a full understanding of the firm creation process. Since the project represents all business start-up activity in Sweden, inferences can be made to the entire population of nascent entrepreneurs. This information has considerable relevance for public policies related to the maintenance of a vigorous entrepreneurial sector in Sweden 

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Business development, Nascent entrepreneurship

Reasearchers involved: Mikael Samuelsson

Gender Bias and Credit Granting

It is established that women entrepreneurs have a harder time securing loans for their new ventures than men, and that they pay more for those loans. Replicating and extending previous studies on gender and credit granting, we use experimental designs to analyze how much impact gender has on outcomes in in loan applications. 

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial finance, Experiment, Gender, Negotiation

Researchers involved: Carin Holmquist and Erik Wetter

Ownership successions in Family Firms:  A longitudinal country study 1990-2009

Up to 60 percent of all entrepreneurs in Sweden and other industrialized nations are approaching the age of retirement. While some choose between selling their firm to an external party or handing it over to family successors, many eventually close down their business. This may have dire consequences on regional and the national economies. This research project aims to increase knowledge of mechanisms that determine the reason behind ownership transfers and successions, and the economic outcomes of such processes in terms of firm profitability, growth, and regional development.

Keyword: Family firms, Intergenerational transfer, Entrepreneurial Exit, External owners

Researchers involved: Miriam Bird, Karl Wennberg, Mattias Nordqvist, Karin Hellerstedt and Massimo Bau

Deregulation, Institutional change and entrepreneurship

This research studies the competitive dynamics of in quasi-regulated and deregulated markets, specifically focusing on the market for schooling in Sweden. We study how the legitimacy of economic activities co-evolve with markets and business practices, using a hand-collected data set following all Swedish vouchers schools started from 1992 and onwards.

Keyword: Deregulation, Institutional change, voucher schools

Researchers involved: Karl Wennberg, Anna Krohwinkel-Karlsson and Stefan Jonsson

Private equity as an asset class

This research takes the perspective of institutional investors investing in PE funds, would it be venture capital or buyout funds. Besides providing a broad understanding about the phenomena as such, the research address how heterogeneity in investor-specific characteristics and entry order strategies may impact performance of funds.

Keywords: Private equity, Institutional Theory, First-mover advantage

Researchers involved: Anna Söderblom

Entrepreneurial Motivation and Perceived Resource Availability

While current theorizing on entrepreneurial entry strategies tend to focus on either motivational factors or creative strategies of resource utilization, little attention has been given to the contingencies whereby differences in motivation and (perceived) resource availability elicit and/or hinder certain entrepreneurial processes. This project asks under what conditions differences in motivation and (perceived) resource availability predict divergent types of entrepreneurial entry and learning strategies. 

Keyword: Entrepreneurial Motivation, Resource Availability, Entrepreneurial Strategy

Researchers involved: Nadav Rotemberg-Shir, Karl Wennberg

Knowledge Transfer and Managerial Tools

A successful knowledge transfer is one of today’s most argent concerns of multinationals. This project ask how and through which mechanisms managers’ affect and imposed managerial tools, such as scheduling affect the success of the transfer between different units of the organization. Our main concern is on individual managers’ perception of resources, motivation and learning strategies.
Keyword: Knowledge Transfer, Absorptive Capacity, Managerial Tools

Researchers involved: Nadav Rotemberg-Shir, Adis Murtic


Contextual influences on high-potential Entrepreneurship

This research investigates the role of context for high-potential Entrepreneurship, defined as the creation of growth oriented firms. Our aim is to develop knowledge on what contextual factors promote the emergence of growth oriented entrepreneurial firms, and how such firms affect economic growth. We use longitudinal data on all new firms in Sweden in 1990-2008, as well as data from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2000-2009 measuring high-potential Entrepreneurship across the world. 

Keywords: Growth, Multi-level modeling, Meso- and Macro level outcomes of entrepreneurship

Researchers involved: Karl Wennberg, Frédéric Delmar and Erkko Autio